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Chapter 3.3.7: People Need to Support the Striking Air India Pilots

(June 2012)

There is hardly any labor movement left in India. Air India pilots have now been striking for the last 53 days; some of them are also on hunger strike for the last 7 days; now, even the parents have joined in, but that’s not enough; public at large need to support them. Their demands seem reasonable: They are agitating for an equitable treatment in career progression, which is a legitimate industrial dispute; 100 pilots have been terminated, and they are demanding their reinstatement, which again is a legitimate industrial dispute; in addition to this, the pilots have not been paid for the last six months, thus, of course, the “No Work No Pay” principle applies. The issue of legality of the strike is pending in the courts, so I won’t comment. However, the most pertinent issue is the accumulated losses of Rs. 90,000 Crores! The strike period itself has led to the losses of Rs. 500 Crores. If I were MD of such a company, I would have lost night sleep and tried everything possible to end the strike at the earliest; but, the CMD of Air India is least concerned, and that is because the government is ever ready to infuse tax payers’ money into Air India. The issues raised in the strike are the direct and indirect ramifications of the merger between Air India and Indian Airlines. Nobody is asking why the two airlines should have ever been merged, which, by far, is the most stupid business decision; and, who should account for the losses of Rs. 90,000 Crores? This is nothing less than a scam! But, unfortunately, nobody is bothered because the Congress and the BJP are on the same side on this issue. In Indian Media, the real issues never get discussed, and the fake issues like P. A. Sangma’s challenge to Pranab Mukherjee’s candidature are debated day-in-and-day-out. If the people concerned were even a little concerned about the real issues, the Civil Aviation Ministry would have closed down long ago, and the erstwhile Minister of Civil Aviation would have left active politics for good. ©2012-2015 Ankur Mutreja